Exercise the Demons Part 11

The first impression Kelly got upon regaining consciousness was one of pain. Her wrists, neck, and ankles felt like they were being slowly cooked. When she tried to pull them away from whatever was hurting them, she heard the clanking of chains. Inch by inch, consciousness and rationality took control of unconscious fear.

She was in a room with no windows, although sunlight coming in from under the door across from her told her she was on ground level. The room had a couch and computer desk with chair, so it was a home office of some kind. Unfortunately, it had a nonstandard feature – she was secured by chains to a Saint Andrew’s cross. Who the hell has a Saint Andrew’s cross in their computer room…oh God this is probably a sex thing, isn’t it? She was at least relieved that she was wearing the clothes she’d been knocked out in.

Sean’s not that sort of monster, at least, she thought, then realized she knew exactly what kind of monster he was because she’d seen it. He was a sadistic bully who enjoyed inflicting pain, and Kelly felt a momentary flash of disappointment that it apparently also translated into BDSM. I wonder why I didn’t see that? The answer occurred to her pretty much in unison with the question – at that point, she’d been seeing sins, not desires.

The door opened, Sean summoned by the earlier clanking of chains, and he looked her up and down with a smile. “Can’t break free, can you? There’s Eunuch-ian runes on them, demon.”

“Okay, if you’re going to Snidely Whiplash on me, get it right. It’s called Enochian.” Kelly didn’t question how she knew that, but was certain of it the moment he’d started speaking it. The language of angels. “Second of all, what the hell? You were just some cute guy who turned out to be a douchebag, when did you learn Enochian magic and get cuffs inscribed with runes?”

“I had help from a higher power,” Sean said, clearly trying to sound as enigmatic as possible. Kelly rolled her eyes.

“No, idiot, I got that, I saw the angel behind you. You do realize that-”

“Ciaofi!” Sean interrupted.

It felt like every nerve in her body had simultaneously been drenched in molten steel. Pain coursed from the bindings and raced through her body, stretching up and down every inch of her and running deep into her core to the point where it felt like her heart had been set alight. She screamed at the sensation, and for a moment, thought this was it, that he was going to kill her.

Then, with same immediacy it had begun, it was gone. Sweat beaded her forehead as she gasped at the shock of it. “You will speak to me with respect,” Sean spat out, stepping forward to put his face only inches from her. “I am a human, you are just some demon. I spoke the words, I have dominion over you.”

Kelly let out a deep breath and glared at him. “I don’t understand how you got the cuffs,” she said after a tense moment.

Sean shrugged and stepped back. “Ciaofi,” he said, in an offhand voice.

Again, the agony coursed through her, and she found herself screaming. Maybe someone will hear me and send helpshe thought as the pain receded, although she didn’t thinks he’d get that lucky. Her hair was beginning to hang in a damp patch from the sweat the pain caused, and she shook her head to clear it out of her eyes. She shifted her arm slightly to bring one of the cuffs into view, and could see the runes were written on them in marker. At least that mystery is solved.

“Sean, can-”

He opened his mouth, and she clamped her shut before he could say the word. He gave her a cold smile. “Good girl,” he said, moving to sit on the couch. Fear and fury churned in Kelly’s gut. If I get out of here, you’re going to pay for that comment. But she kept her mouth shut for now, working on a way to get out of this mess.

“I can’t believe this. I’ve got an actual demon in my possession! Sariel said he didn’t care what I did with you, so long as I didn’t strike a demon. Oh man. So, let’s start,” Sean rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Fix whatever you did.”

Kelly blinked. “What?” She saw he was getting ready for the word again, and hating herself for wanting to avoid it, she rushed to explain, “I mean, I hit you with your own sin, but it was a temporary thing, right?”

That was, apparently, the wrong thing to say. “Ciaofi,” he snarled at her, and he continued glaring until the pain subsided. “Every night I see it. Every time I close my damn eyes. It’s a fucking nightmare I can’t escape, you bitch. Fix me!”

Kelly swallowed hard. “I…can’t.”

She was braced for it this time, and although the agony was nearly unbearable, she achieved a small victory in keeping her teeth clenched against the pain. “You know the best part, bitch? I can keep saying it, over and over, and it’ll never kill you. If you don’t undo it, I might leave a recording of me saying on loop in here overnight. I live on a huge plot of land, no one will hear you scream.”

Kelly could feel sweat running down her back from the latest round. She knew she had to get out of here, and soon. Maybe it was different for full demons, but if he kept this up, she’d go insane.

Wait. That’s it. Not going insane, but she knew exactly what to do. “Even if I could, I wouldn’t,” she snarled.

He frowned. “Ciaofi,” he muttered.

She let herself scream this time, because she didn’t want to waste the strength fighting it. As soon as the pain passed, she panted out, “I’m so glad I didn’t hook up with you. Someone as fucked in the head as you are must be compensating for something. How many times have you heard “is it in ye-”

“Ciaofi!” he bellowed and again, she howled, but she was smiling as she did, and that seemed to piss him off even more. “Ciaofi ciaofi ciaofi!”

She lost sense of time, lost sense of reality. For a little bit, there was nothing other than the pain, pain so blinding a small part of her brain that wasn’t engulfed in agony wondered if maybe she’d miscalculated, maybe she would go insane before her plan worked, maybe she’d end up a drooling moron or completely broken or-

The sweat began to run down her wrists and neck and legs, and all of a sudden, the pain stopped. Sean blinked. “Ciaofi?” he asked, hesitantly.

There was no pain this time, and she sat there, panting at the pain, then with a swift motion lunged her arms forward, shattered the chains binding her. A quick kick did the same to the ones on her ankles as she pulled the collar in half. She held it up, where he could see how the sweat had ruined the hastily drawn Enochian runes.

Sean let out a sound halfway between a scream and a squeak, and turned to bolt out of the room. She leapt across the distance in a single bound, hitting him on the back and tackling him to the ground. She pressed one hand to the back of his head, forcing his face into the carpet. The claws on that hand extended, digging into his scalp just enough where he’d have a painful reminder they were there. She leaned down close to him so she could whisper in his ear.